


Friend or Foe

by Alexandria (heartfullofelves)



Category: Voyná i mir | War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy, War and Peace (TV 2016)
Genre: Canon Era, Character Study, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-12
Updated: 2017-02-12
Packaged: 2018-09-23 12:33:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 600
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9657662
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/heartfullofelves/pseuds/Alexandria
Summary: Amelie Bourienne doesn’t fit in with the Bolkonskys.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * In response to a prompt by [Alexandria (heartfullofelves)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/heartfullofelves/pseuds/Alexandria) in the [wofwap](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/wofwap) collection. 



Amelie Bourienne does not fit in with the Bolkonskys. Oh, she tries, god knows she tries, but they are impossible to fit in with. They’re an old family and set in their ways, and she is still amazed that the old prince took her in all those years ago at all, given she’s French.

She is meant to be the enemy.

But old Prince Bolkonsky interviewed her once and made her his daughter’s companion without explanation. She and Princess Marya come from such different worlds it astounds her that they should get on at all, but for the most part they do. Amelie’s enjoyment of fashion and gossip confuses Marya, as Marya’s solemn, religious nature confuses Amelie, but most of the time they are civil if not friendly with one another. Marya is harmless, and while Amelie has nothing in common with her, she fulfils her duties as a lady’s companion without complaint.

Marya is not the problem. In fact, Amelie thinks, the woman’s presence in this household makes her own more tolerable.

Prince Andrei, however, Marya’s older brother, _is_ part of the problem. He has always made it clear that he despises her, and has never made any attempt to get to know her, or even ask how she is on a day. Is it because she is French? Or is it because she is a woman? Neither fact helps her case. He treats her as a flirt, a gossip, a slut, and it cuts her deep. It is not a case of her being upset over the cruel words of one she respects, because she cannot respect a man as stubborn, as harsh, as melancholic as he, but rather she is scared he might be right – she _does_ flirt, she _does_ gossip, and though she may not meet the physical requirements to be labelled a slut, perhaps she has the heart of one.

(She shares this fear with no-one. But then, she has no-one to share it with. Marya may not be as judgemental as her brother, but she is still far from understanding Amelie.)

Prince Nikolai Bolkonsky, the family patriarch, is also part of the problem. At best, Amelie is grateful to him for providing her with a home, with food, and with clothes. At worst, she despises him. She keeps this loathing locked up inside her, lets no-one see how she feels, hiding behind a flirtatious, giddy mask. The old prince, an angry, stubborn, eccentric man, says pretty words to her. If she responds in kind, he gifts her with trinkets, or extra allowance. She hates herself for it, knowing just what Marya and Andrei think of her when she puts a hand on their father’s knee, but she cannot afford to anger him, surely they must know that.

Prince Bolkonsky could throw her out in an instant. And then she would be just another penniless orphan again. A woman with nothing, in a foreign land. A Frenchwoman in Russia, during a war with Napoleon Bonaparte. For her comfort and safety – for her very _life_ – she relies on the old prince and must please him.

So no, she does not fit in with the Bolkonskys. She is so very different from them, and they do not accommodate for this, only making it harder. But she is strong, no matter what they think of her; she survived the Revolution, and she survived her parents’ deaths, and she will survive whatever the Bolkonskys may throw at her. Amelie Bourienne is different from the Russian socialites in this way. It’s not about being liked, after all – it’s about surviving.


End file.
